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Joe Biden to Nominate Diverse Group of Economic Advisers; CT Scan Shows Biden with Hairline Foot Fractures; Trump Still in Denial Days After Losing Election; Interview with Governor Jared Polis (D-CO) on Colorado Death Toll and Surge in COVID Cases; U.S. Hospitalizations Hit Record 93,200 Plus Patients. Aired 8-9p ET

Aired November 29, 2020 - 20:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

[20:00:00]

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR (voice-over): Saudi Arabia's Specialized Criminal Court, which according to human rights group Amnesty International is intrinsically unfair.

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ROBERTSON (on camera): Well, having just come back from Saudi Arabia, one of the things I can tell you, and I think this is quite informative about the bigger picture of what's happening in Saudi Arabia. The vast majority of people, and many of the young women that we spoke to there, told us that they are happy with the reforms and changes that are happening in Saudi Arabia. They praise the Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman for that.

They're not focused on Loujain al-Hathloul's case. What they're looking at are the new opportunities for women which they feel are real and are there to be taken right now -- Jessica.

JESSICA DEAN, CNN HOST: Nic Robertson, thanks so much.

Good evening to you. You are live in the CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Jessica Dean in Washington. And we begin tonight with breaking news.

The Biden administration is shaping up to look different than any White House in history. The president-elect is expected to name several women to top economic posts. And he is announcing an all- female senior communications team. This news coming on a day where coronavirus cases are surging. And we've reached a new high in hospitalizations in this country as Thanksgiving gatherings will only add fuel to the fire in the coming weeks.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. JEROME ADAMS, U.S. SURGEON GENERAL: I want to be straight with the American people. It's going to get worse over the next several weeks.

DR. ANTHONY FAUCI, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF ALLERGY AND INFECTIOUS DISEASES: As we go for the next couple of weeks into December, that we might see a surge superimposed upon the surge where he in.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DEAN: More than a quarter million Americans -- these are our family members, our friends, our neighbors -- have lost their lives to this virus already. And experts predict the number of daily deaths could double by next weekend.

But the president is more interested in combating the election than combating the virus right now. Taking to the FOX News airwaves for 45 minutes this morning to spread baseless conspiracy theories, like this one.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I'm telling you, 10:00 everybody thought it was over, and then the phony mail-ins started coming in, Maria. There are many mailmen that are in big trouble right now for selling ballots, getting rid of ballots. This is the craziest thing you've ever seen. But many ballots --

MARIA BARTIROMO, FOX NEWS HOST: Well, it seems to me --

TRUMP: Many ballots with the name Trump on were thrown out.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DEAN: Again, baseless claims there from President Trump. We're going to get back to that in just a second. But we want to start with the latest on the president-elect's key picks.

CNN's MJ Lee joining us now. And MJ, what can you tell us about Biden's expected choices for these top economic posts?

MJ LEE, CNN POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, this is shaping up to be a busy week for Joe Biden and his transition team. What we know is that tomorrow he is going to formally announce some members of his economic team. Some of the names that we can report tonight, Janet Yellen is going to be named Joe Biden's Treasury secretary. This is something that CNN has been reporting for a while. She, as you know, served as the former chairwoman of the Federal Reserve.

Another name we can report is Neera Tanden. She is currently the head of the Center for American Progress. She is going to be named the head of the Office of Management and Budget, obviously a very important role. And then we also have Cecilia Rouse. She is a Princeton economist who is going to be named the head of the Council of Economic Advisers under the Biden administration.

Now noteworthy that these are all women who are being named to very senior roles. Two serve in various economic positions. And these women are going to have their work cut out for them. Obviously, the economic recovery is going to be one of the biggest challenges for Biden as he enters the White House. And he has talked about the importance of having diversity in these key positions. So, again, this announcement is expected tomorrow. And we also expect

a formal event on Tuesday to introduce some of these folks here in Wilmington, Delaware -- Jessica.

DEAN: Yes. Such a key part of his team. Also tonight, Biden announced an all-female senior White House communications team. That's historic. Tell us a little more about that.

LEE: Absolutely. And some of these names are going to be names that people who have followed the Biden campaign or the transition work will be familiar with. Let me just tell about you some of these key women who are getting these roles. Kate Bedingfield is going to be named the White House Communications director. She, of course, has been the deputy campaign manager for Biden's 2020 campaign.

We also have Jen Psaki, who is being named the White House press secretary, so a face that we are going to see a lot behind the podium in the White House Briefing Room. Two other names worth mentioning as well. Sanders will be the chief spokesperson for Vice President-elect Kamala Harris and Karine Jean-Pierre is the principal deputy press secretary at the White House as well.

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So again all women who are getting these senior communications roles. We're also seeing racial diversity as well, two things that Biden has talked about as being important in his future administration.

DEAN: Yes. And we're also getting a health update on President-elect Biden. We learned earlier today he hurt his foot while he was playing with his dog. And since we saw you last hour, MJ, there's been an update that now they think he has hairline fractures in his foot. Tell us a little more about that. How is he doing right now?

LEE: That's right. When we spoke in the last hour, the update we had gotten from his doctor was after an initial x-ray scan which showed that there were no obvious fractures. They thought that it was just a sprained foot. But the latest update we have now in this hour is that after he had gotten a CT image scanning, we do see hairline fractures in the mid-foot area. And the doctor now saying that the president- elect will probably have to wear a walking boot for several weeks.

Obviously, this comes as he is busy in the middle of his transition efforts. We didn't really get a good glimpse of him over the weekend and even today when he was going to these various doctor's appointments. But some of the members of the traveling pool, these are reporters who were with the president-elect, they were with him when he went to the doctor's visits. He did offer a thumbs up. He did wave to these reporters, so sort of trying to signal that he is all OK, even though, again, the doctor now saying that he does have hairline fractures in his mid-foot area -- Jessica.

DEAN: All right. MJ Lee, for us tonight, thanks so much. We appreciate it.

And Dr. Esther Choo is joining me now with more. She's a CNN medical analyst and also an emergency physician.

Dr. Choo, great to see you. As MJ was just reporting, we initially reported Biden's injury as a sprain. Then he got more imaging with that CT imaging, and now they're saying that he has hairline fractures in his foot. Tell me how you can see one thing on an x-ray but then maybe you get different images on a CT scan.

DR. ESTHER CHOO, CNN MEDICAL ANALYST: Yes. Absolutely. So we call that a radiographically occult fracture. What that means is some fractures are simply not very visible on initial x-ray. And that's for a number of reason. In the mid-foot, in particular, you have a lot of small bones crowded together, and they're overlapping so they can be notoriously hard to see fractures, particularly if they're very tiny and if there isn't displacement of pieces of bone.

So there's nothing sticking up that's an obvious fracture. But they are likely on physical exam was an unusual amount of tenderness, maybe it was lower down than where you'd expect with an ankle sprain. Something that clued his physicians in that they're into the fact that there might be more of a ligamentous injury, so then you would proceed to a CT scan that really shows you the bones in finer detail and that's where they saw these fractures.

DEAN: That's how you're able to see those really, really thin hairline fractures it sounds like.

CHOO: That's right.

DEAN: Yes. So his doctor says he's probably going to need a walking boot. Is there a chance he could be in the boot or on crutches for the inauguration January 20th? How long does that -- are you typically in a boot for something like that?

CHOO: For -- just hearing the description of the fracture and his doctor's decision to just put him in a boot rather than a cast or crutches, I'm guessing this is something they expect him to heal from pretty quickly. I would guess no more than six weeks in that walking boot which actually should put him in good time to be boot-free by inauguration. It's possible if he doesn't -- you know, if he's still having pain with walking that he might have it on further. But I'd be surprised if he were on crutches at that time. I think we'll see him bounce up to the stage.

DEAN: All right, Dr. Ester Choo, thanks for walking us through some of that. We appreciate it. Stand by, we'll check back in with you in a little bit.

CHOO: Thank you, Jessica.

DEAN: Thanks.

While the president-elect is assembling his White House team, the current president remains defiant over the election refusing to admit he lost, even though he did. President Trump was on FOX News today and that conversation could hardly be considered an interview. He actually spent the better part of an hour spreading baseless conspiracy theories about election fraud.

So let's go now to CNN White House correspondent Jeremy Diamond.

Jeremy, the president seemed to implicate his own FBI and Justice Department in a plot to steal the election during this appearance this morning.

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: It was just one of the wild claims that we heard from the president during this 45 minutes of lies, delusion, and misinformation about the 2020 election, as President Trump continues nearly four weeks after that election took place to try and cast doubt on the legitimacy of Joe Biden's election as president and to try and bring in his tens of millions of supporters into this alternate universe in which there was this overwhelming widespread voter fraud that shifted the outcome of the 2020 election.

But what we know now nearly four weeks later, there have been more than 30 cases brought forward by the president's campaign and their allies, that have been either dismissed or withdrawn by those legal teams. It's a mountain of evidence, frankly, to the contrary of the president's claims.

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You also have recounts and audits in key battleground states that have also confirmed the results. And the president providing no evidence for his claims. But here's what he said about the FBI and the Justice Department, at one point suggesting that they were, quote, "involved."

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TRUMP: This is total fraud. And how the FBI and Department of Justice -- I don't know, maybe they are involved. But how people are allowed to get away -- with this stuff is unbelievable. This election was rigged. This is the essence of our country. This is the whole ball game. And they cheated. Joe Biden did not get 80 million votes.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DIAMOND: And what you hear there in the president's voice is this disbelief. And we heard it at several points during this 45-minute conversation that he had with a friendly host on FOX News. The president seeming to not believe the fact that Joe Biden could have beaten him and received so many votes. But that isn't a standard of evidence, certainly not in a court of law where we've seen the president's cases dismissed by one judge after the next.

One thing that the president did make clear on Sunday, though, is he said he plans to devote 125 percent of his energy towards continuing to contest this election, even as the coronavirus pandemic enters its worst phase ever. And he also said, Jessica, that he plans to continue to believe that this election was rigged, even six months from now once he's no longer in office.

DEAN: As we -- yes, as we reach record hospitalizations with the coronavirus pandemic.

Jeremy Diamond, thanks so much for that reporting. We appreciate it.

For more on the nearly hour-long rant by the president, let's bring in former FOX News chief political correspondent and founder of FrontPageLive.com, Carl Cameron, and CNN senior political analyst and senior editor at the "Atlantic," Ron Brownstein.

Great to see both of you. Ron, let's start with you. This call-in was full of lies, full of conspiracy theories. At one point as we just heard, President Trump even suggesting the Justice Department rigged this election against him. Is this dangerous at this point? Do you think people kind of write this off as kind of a pathetic attempt to make himself heard and known with these conspiracy theories? Or is it both?

RON BROWNSTEIN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: It's both. It is extremely dangerous. It is not going to overturn the election. But it is extremely dangerous that he is convincing somewhere between three- quarters and 80 percent of Republicans that this election was stolen, despite the fact, as Jeremy pointed out, there is simply no evidence to that effect. And as his conspiracy theories, which start at a kind of a racist base, that this was stolen in primarily -- in heavily African-American cities like Philadelphia, and Detroit, Milwaukee, and Atlanta, even though he declined more in primarily white suburbs where he is not alleging fraud.

It starts with that. But as it gets more and more fantastical and far- reaching, implicating the Department of Justice, the FBI, Republican governors, the silence of Republicans in Congress, Mitch McConnell in particular, Kevin McCarthy in particular, who are allowing this poison to spread in the American political system, looks more and more like a modern analog to the silence of Republican congressional leaders during the rampages of Joe McCarthy in the early 1950s.

I think History will have no trouble finding a parallel between Mitch McConnell's attempt to kind of look the other way and what so many Republican leaders did until Joseph Welch said, at long last, sir, have you no decency? I think we are seeing a modern equivalent of that unfolding before our eyes now.

DEAN: Yes, it is truly remarkable.

Carl, FOX host Maria Bartiromo just nodded along during President Trump's call there. And meanwhile, FOX's opinion hosts are towing the Trump line while he pushes these lies. In your opinion, are they complicit? Is FOX News complicit in this effort to overturn the will of the people, to have this peaceful transition of power, which is what makes America America?

CARL CAMERON, FORMER CHIEF POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT, FOX NEWS: The conservative opinion hosts certainly think that the president is on the right side of his complete pretzel logic and total misunderstanding of what just happened. He lost. He's toast. And he's out of here pretty soon. That's a reality he simply won't accept. And there are now only three places where he can reliably get an audience. It's FOX in one. Then there's the One America Network. And the other

one is maybe Breitbart or maybe Newsmax. But that's a big fall for a president of the United States. And the rest of the media and specifically the real news, even the journalists at FOX News who are actually covering the facts, have made it very clear that Biden won. Trump is full of it.

DEAN: And Carl, I'd like to get your reaction to some new interview that we're getting from Chris Krebs, the cybersecurity official, of course who was fired by Trump after he said that the 2020 election was the most secure in American history. He is on "60 Minutes." I'll take us a listen.

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SCOTT PELLEY, CBS HOST, "60 MINUTES": The president is essentially saying in that tweet that you did a lousy job. That you and your team blew it and allowed massive fraud all across the country.

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CHRIS KREBS, FORMER DIRECTOR, CYBERSECURITY AND INFRASTRUCTURE SECURITY AGENCY: We did a good job. We did it right. I'd do it 1,000 times over. There's no foreign power that's flipping votes. There's no domestic actor flipping votes. I did it right. We did it right. This was a secure election.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DEAN: And Carl, you could see the look on Chris Krebs' face there when he was talking. Messages like this from the experts, from non-partisan officials like Chris Krebs are not getting through, it seems like, the Trump-FOX echo chamber. What happens with this information gap? Because you were kind of alluding to this. Ron was alluding to this as well. You now have almost two parts of America. One who believes Joe Biden was legitimately elected president and one that does not.

CAMERON: What I would say is it's really important to recognize that cybersecurity was maintained. And in fact, we had warnings back in 2016 that the Russians were going to attack our election. And this time, it appears we've done a very, very good job of protecting things. And there's a whole bunch of other elements to the integrity of our election that seems to get lost in an awful lot of the coverage and the dialogue.

Let's remember that Republican governors, let's remember that Republican Trump appointed judges, let's remember that red states turned blue, and that for the last four years, Donald Trump was telling everybody that the election was going to be rigged, and that the Democrats would cheat. Well, secretaries of state that are responsible for holding elections heard him say that for four years. They didn't -- they were not derelict in their duty. They heard his threats and they prepared for it in the same way that cybersecurity did, in the same way that Republican and Democratic governors and legislators did. Trump's fantasy that he can somehow overturn this would mean

destroying a lot of Republican down ballot politicians who won. He lost, again. He is toast. He is gone.

DEAN: All right. Ron Brownstein, Carl Cameron, thanks so much for being with us on this Sunday night. Have a good one.

BROWNSTEIN: Thank you.

DEAN: As the pandemic rages across the country, the number of hospitalizations from the virus hitting a new record today. And states are imposing new restrictions to control the spread. But will that be enough? The governor of Colorado is joining me live. That's next.

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DEAN: With the pandemic continuing its rampage across the country, states are scrambling to put new restrictions in place to stem the spread. And in Colorado deaths have tonight surpassed 3,000. The governor recently extending the mandatory mask mandate statewide in an effort to bring down the caseload which now sits above 228,000. And Colorado Governor Jared Polis joining me now.

Governor, I have a lot I want to ask you. But first, I know you just tested positive yourself for coronavirus. I want to ask how you're feeling.

GOV. JARED POLIS (D), COLORADO: So far, Jessica, Marlon and I are fine. Didn't have a very good night's sleep last night but it's hard to know if that was just because of the worry of the diagnosis. I think it's more psychological than physiological. But so far, so good. No fever. Just hoping for the best.

DEAN: Yes, well, we certainly hope it continues that way. Do you have any idea how you might have become infected?

POLIS: Yes. I mean we had at least one known exposure, other potential exposures. That's why I've been in quarantine. And like others, I had also been, you know, out to the pharmacy and grocery store doing our Thanksgiving shopping. So there's no way to know for sure. I think, you know, it's certainly possible I got it from the likely exposure. But what matters now is in Colorado, one out of 41 people are contagious. So it could be anywhere, right? And that's why we need to be careful around everybody.

DEAN: That is such a strong point. There is so much virus out there right now. And I know you're pushing for legislation to help families and businesses in your state through the health crisis. Does that mean you've given up on Congress passing a relief bill, the fact that you're taking some of this into your own hands there locally?

POLIS: We prefer to think of ours as a bridge. I called the legislature into special session. They start tomorrow. There's been great leadership from our leaders in the legislature to help some of the impacted small businesses, to help childcare, to help renters and landlords. That's what they are stepping up and doing. But whatever we do at the state level, and this is really the case for any state, is just very small in comparison to what we know we need to do nationally. I really urge the federal government to step up, for people, for the unemployed, small businesses like restaurants and gyms. The Democrats and Republicans in Washington really need to work together in this time of need.

DEAN: And why do you think that's been so hard, to get a COVID relief bill passed on Capitol Hill when so many people are struggling mightily right now?

POLIS: You know, I hope that they can just agree on what they can agree on. And if they need to do more next year, they can do more next year. But the urgency is very great. You know, many states across the country, for instance, there's just -- the way that many businesses like restaurants are operating, they simply can't get by. We're trying to provide some help at the state level but we know we need to do that nationally.

DEAN: Yes. The mayor of Denver has come under fire after he urged residents there to not travel for Thanksgiving but was then seen at the airport on his way to visit family across the country. How can you expect residents to follow orders when officials aren't doing so?

POLIS: First of all, I'm very grateful that our family chose to just have Thanksgiving alone. We didn't expose my parents. I haven't been able to see my parents in nine months because they're taking a lot of precautions. They're only staying at home. They're only going out on walks. And my mom had to go to the dentist twice.

Look, I hope everybody is careful. And I hope that both those who are careful and those who aren't are among the lucky ones. I don't want anybody to contract this deadly virus.

DEAN: Right. Right. I want to ask you, too, about the Denver Broncos.

[20:25:02]

Just the point that COVID is reaching everywhere into our society. Today they had to play a game with no quarterback because all three of the QBs were deemed high risk COVID close contact. Is that a sign that we've lost control of the virus when it is seeping into so many parts of our society? As you mentioned, one in 41, you said, people in Colorado are contagious?

POLIS: Yes. And football pros, politicians, nobody is an exception. One of my favorite sports commentators I think on Tuesday said, we ought to put Jared Polis in as quarterback. But unfortunately I contracted it, too. So I wasn't available.

DEAN: Not available with that throwing arm. But what advice would you give to people who are watching? They're tired. They know that there's a lot of virus out there. It seems like, well, maybe I'm just going to catch it anyway. You know, they throw their hands up. What do you say to them? POLIS: Well, there's good news. Hope is not only on the way, but

imminent. We expect in Colorado, across the country, the first dosages of a highly effective vaccine within two weeks. Now that will largely go to health care workers and others. But early next year, January, February, most of the vulnerable population, seniors, those in nursing homes, et cetera, there should be enough supply to protect them at a very high level.

DEAN: All right. Governor Jared Polis, we certainly hope that you continue to feel all right as you go through coronavirus. And we'll look for you on the football field another time. Thanks so much.

POLIS: Thank you. Take care, Jessica.

DEAN: I'm also going to speak to a former NFL player for his take on the Bronco situation. That's coming up a little bit later in the show.

In the meantime, this month alone, the United States has added four million new coronavirus cases and more Americans are in hospitals right now with COVID than ever before.

Can things get worse than this? The surgeon general has a sobering warning.

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[20:31:16]

DEAN: Some breaking news now into CNN. A top contender for CIA director in President-elect Biden's new administration is taking himself out of the running. Sources tell CNN, Tom Donilon told the Biden transition team a while ago he was not ready to go back into government right now. Donilon served under President Obama as National Security adviser. CNN reported last week the former CIA acting director Michael Morell is among those under consideration for the post.

More than 93,000 Americans are hospitalized right now due to the coronavirus. More than 100,000 cases per day for the last 27 days straight. One nurse saying, they have never seen so much death. But how much worse will it get? Can it get?

Surgeon General Jerome Adams says it's going to get worse over the next few weeks and Dr. Anthony Fauci warns post-Thanksgiving infections could mean a surge on top of a surge.

Joining me now CNN medical analyst, Dr. Rochelle Walensky, chief of the Infectious Disease Division at Massachusetts General Hospital.

Dr. Walensky, thanks for being here with us. You heard me just a few moments ago speaking to Colorado Governor Jared Polis. He's tested positive for coronavirus. We see the Denver Broncos members that are having to stay out of contention because of potential exposure. This is affecting so many people right now in so many parts of our life.

Do you think that we risk it all kind of sleepwalking through what's now the worst part of this pandemic because we've been at this now for so long?

DR. ROCHELLE WALENSKY, CNN MEDICAL ANALYST: Good evening, Jessica. I would say now is the time to re-double our efforts, to pay more attention than we ever have before. We've had over a quarter of a million deaths. Projections suggest that we may be at half a million deaths by the end of February. As Dr. Fauci said, a surge on top of a surge. By the end of this year, we could have 4,000 deaths per day.

Anybody who has not been paying attention, anybody who is sleepwalking through this ultimately will know somebody who has passed from this disease. That's how pervasive it is. We're talking about a decimation of American lives. Yes, I'm very worried about that.

DEAN: A decimation of American life. It's so sobering to look at those numbers, to hear you lay them out like that. I know you and your colleagues have been begging people for months to wear masks, to wash their hands, to socially distance, to take these precautions. And here we are now more than four million new cases just in this month.

Do you think people risk growing numb to 1,000 deaths, 2,000 deaths a day? Some people seem to think if they can just live their life like they did pre-pandemic, that that's OK. Do we risk going numb to some of this?

WALENSKY: I think we are. And I think that, you know, as we think about the tragedy of what happened in the early part of 2020, we did not know how to treat this disease. We did not know what we were dealing with. We did not know how to prevent it. That's tragic. And it has been tragic. It's really a needless tragedy when we know what we need to do, when it's really just a simple mask. Just as we know that this vaccine is really around the corner for us, it really just -- it's a needless loss of life when we're not doing what we need to do to prevent it.

DEAN: Right. And these really simple things, wearing the mask, washing your hands. I know so many people out there are focused on schools, on what's going on with their children, whether their children are in school, or out of school, learning at home. New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio saying he's going to reopen public school buildings for early and elementary learning but he's going to keep public, middle and high schools closed.

What are your thoughts about this? What are we learning about the different age groups with children going back to school?

[20:35:02]

WALENSKY: Right. This is a really interesting question and data are emerging. And some of the best data have been collected by Emily Oster out of Brown University with over 200,000 children across 47 states in the schools. And there are certain things that we've learned. First is that children between the ages of 5 and 11 have half the rates of infection as children between the ages of 12 and 17. So we really do believe that those early years, those children are not getting infected and they're not giving disease to others. So the other thing that we know and Dr. Oster has looked into this

specifically in New York is we expect to see some cases of COVID in the schools because that really just reflects the number of cases that are in the community. But what she found actually is that in New York, if you look at the early elementary schools, that the cases in the schools were right at about half the rate as they were in the community.

So I do think that the mayor is following the data. And it really is safe to send those early elementary school kids back to school.

DEAN: And so as we get this data and as the experts like you go through it and see what it means, there are some school districts that remain closed. Others open. Others half and half as we're talking about. Do we need a more uniform policy across the country? Do you think?

WALENSKY: I do think we need a more uniform policy and more uniform guidance. But what I will also say is that some of this is going to have to be at the local level. How big are the schools? How well can they do the practical measures of keeping things distanced, keeping children three feet apart in masks, six feet apart in masks, whatever the guidance is going to be? And so I do think we need both more general federal guidance and then some guidance at the state and local level as to how to best implement it.

DEAN: Right. And with the possibility of this vaccine being available soon, what kind of questions are you hearing from your patients? Do you think enough people are going to agree to take this vaccine? Because it really -- my understanding is it's only going to work if they are able to vaccinate a lot of people, hundreds of millions of people.

WALENSKY: Indeed. And in fact, you know, the people who are calling are those who are really enthusiastic. They want to know if we have it today. And so I'm actually less worried about the people who are calling now saying when is the soonest that I can get vaccinated, than by all those people who really don't want it who are avoiding the medical system, who really need to have more data and more understanding, who need the outreach that all of us need to provide to make sure that they understand how safe this vaccine is, if and when it is approved -- or authorized and that this is a good thing to do.

DEAN: Yes. There's going to be a lot of education and outreach likely in the months to come.

Dr. Rochelle Walensky, thanks so much for being with us tonight. We appreciate it.

WALENSKY: Thanks for having me.

DEAN: Yes. How does a football team play without a quarterback? That's what the Denver Broncos faced today because of the pandemic. We're going to look at whether it's time to shut down the football season.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) [20:42:10]

DEAN: In a sobering sign of how little control the NFL has over the pandemic, the Denver Broncos took on the New Orleans Saints today with no quarterback on their roster. All three of their quarterbacks were ineligible after being declared high risk COVID-19 close contacts.

Dr. Myron Rolle is a former NFL player himself and also a neurosurgery resident at Massachusetts General Hospital.

Dr. Rolle, thanks for being with us. What does this signal to you about the fate of the rest of the NFL season?

DR. MYRON ROLLE, FORMER NFL PLAYER: Well, thanks for having me. I've always felt quite skeptical that the NFL can continue a season without major disruptions or postponements, cancellations, delays of games, and just change in schedule. This news with the Broncos and having their players not followed the mandate and the restrictions, it's difficult to hear. You know, we've been on the NFL for the longest about being more serious about this pandemic and not putting revenue and money as your main focus, and player safety and health as a main focus.

And when you don't have players following those mandates by wearing masks and you have three quarterbacks who go down and the team really suffers from that, it just tells you that this pandemic is going nowhere. It's permeated the NFL. I don't think it's going to be resolved any time soon. The NFL needs to really take a closer look at what they should do to protect their players, players' families and even the staff who are all in the facility and the buildings.

DEAN: Yes, and so on that note, I'm wondering, is there a safe way to play a contact sport like football in the age of coronavirus? I mean, the NBA had the Bubble, of course, and that seemed to work. But is that impossible for football?

ROLLE: It's a hard task. It's a herculean task, I'd say, honestly. You know, you have so many more players, so many more moving parts. It's a huge investment to bring all those teams together to maybe one city or two cities and to play. I think the NFL possibly could have done it if they had thought about it earlier. But I feel like they wanted to really get the product on the field, play this game, you know, get some sense of normalcy back in the country.

And so, you know, now you're running the risk of players getting infected, players going out in the community, they're spreading the infection to their families, having games postponed. Playoffs in jeopardy. A lot of things happening. So I think having a -- you know, having a bubble is, you know, not realistic for the NFL. And I think the best move right now is maybe just to pause, take a second, allow this to cool off for a while and then maybe return to resuming the games once these infection rates and once everything is clear.

DEAN: Would you feel safe playing right now?

ROLLE: I would not. I have been one of the players who opted because frankly I have a three -- sorry, I have two 3-month-olds.

[20:45:02]

You know, I have, you know, older parents. And, you know, I don't want to run the risk of exposing them either. So I think personally, I would have said no, especially with the uncertainties that we don't know about COVID-19, how it could affect people long-term, whether it be cardiac symptoms, neurologic symptoms that we've seen, transient amnesia and other parts of the body that have been affected.

I think there's more questions than answers right now. And I think I probably would not have felt safe participating in the NFL if I was still playing.

DEAN: All right. Dr. Myron Rolle, thanks for giving us your thoughts tonight. We sure do appreciate it.

ROLLE: Thank you.

DEAN: All right. Tonight, "THIS IS LIFE WITH LISA LING" is back for a new season and two brand new episodes premiere tonight. We'll have a preview for you next.

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[20:50:12]

DEAN: Two worlds, one of promise, one of punishment, come together for an unlikely experiment. On tonight's season premiere of "THIS IS LIFE WITH LISA LING," Lisa brings us a unique look at a prison and a prep school that form an unlikely bond over literature. Here is a preview.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LISA LING, EXECUTIVE PRODUCER AND HOST, "THIS IS LIFE WITH LISA LING" (on camera): How are you guys feeling?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A little nervous now that we're inside.

LING (voice-over): Guiding Hudson and the other students through security gates is the boys' English and theology teacher, Jim Nicoletti.

(On camera): Do you talk much about what the boys are about to embark on before they go in?

JIM NICOLETTI, ENGLISH AND THEOLOGY TEACHER: Well, it's tricky because you don't want to give away too much. We want it to be a surprise. We want it to be a healthy shock. Geography matters. Getting kids out in the community matters. I'm always telling students, don't let school get in the way of your education. A lot of good stuff to see out there.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DEAN: And we're so happy to have with us the host of "THIS IS LIFE," Lisa Ling.

Lisa, great to see you. You're actually kicking off the season with back-to-back new episodes. That first one we just saw focuses on prep school students and prisoners. The second focusing on an intense retreat for boys in crisis. Why did you want to start off the season focusing on young men?

LING: Well, thanks for having me on the show. You know, when we first shot these episodes, we did not intend for them to air together. But in many ways, they actually do go together. And there's a similar thread through these shows which is that boys and young men, they need to be given permission to feel, to express emotion, to even cry in some cases. And we all know that right now, young people are struggling, particularly boys.

The rates of depression among boys, rates are up. Boys drop out of school at a higher rate than girls. The suicide rates among boys between 15 and 24 is four times higher than girls. And so boys really need an outlet. And they also need good models of manhood. And when you think about the models of manhood that we have out there today, particularly in government and business, you know, there's a lot of name calling, there's a lot of bullying, there's a lot of greed.

And tonight, we're going to meet men from entirely different worlds who are stepping up and being the models that many boys really need.

DEAN: Yes. And probably teaching them, too, how to sort through emotions and explain how they're feeling instead of acting out in anger.

Tell us more about the program that brings together the prep school students and the prisoners at the state correctional facility. How does that work? What are the goals in doing that?

LING: So it's an elective course at a private Catholic boys prep school called the Palma School in Salinas, California. And the young men go into the CTF prison in Soledad, California, for eight weeks during which time they discuss, they read, they interpret literature. And you would think that the beneficiaries would be the incarcerated men. But I was pretty compelled and moved by the impact that was had on the students.

Because the incarcerated men, and most of these men were serving life sentences, they were so candid about their crimes. They were so remorseful. They recognized so many of them, the trauma they had experienced as children and how it led them on a path, and because they were so candid, they gave the young men from Palma School the permission to also dig deep. And some of them shared things with -- who they call their brothers in blue as well as other Palma students that they may never have even shared with their closest friends or family members. And it was really just an incredibly moving experience.

DEAN: I'm sure it was. Really quickly before we go, what made -- what drew you to sharing this message with people? Why do people need to watch this episode tonight? LING: Well, as I said, we all have young men and boys in our lives,

whether they're our sons, our brothers, students, cousins. And it's so important, especially during these times when so many young men are struggling, that they be able to express their emotions and be given permission to feel.

DEAN: Yes. Yes. All right, Lisa Ling, thanks so much. We look forward to seeing it tonight.

And make sure to tune in, an all-new season of "THIS IS LIFE WITH LISA LING" premieres with back-to-back episodes at the top of the hour right here on CNN.

A Formula 1 race car driver lucky to be alive tonight after escaping from a fiery crash. Look at that. More on this terrifying moment next.

[20:55:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

DEAN: Before we go tonight, one race car driver is certainly thankful to be alive. A terrifying moment today at the Formula 1 Grand Prix in Bahrain. Driver Roman Grosjean narrowly escaping from that fiery crash. His car veered off the track during the first lap after coming in contact with another driver. The race car plowed into the barrier that ripped it in half. Look, he jumped out of it, though. You can see he was able to jump out of the car, which is truly, truly remarkable.

In a post to Instagram, he said he is doing OK and grateful for all the support. He suffered some light burns to his hands and ankles. It's estimated his impact speed was around 125 miles per hour. Wow.

I'm Jessica Dean in Washington, An all-new season of "THIS IS LIFE WITH LISA LING" premieres with back-to-back episodes next. Thanks for spending time with us tonight. Have a great evening.

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